Agent-shell – vendor-neutral chat with AI agents in Emacs

In plain words

Agent-shell is an Emacs mode that enables vendor-neutral chat with AI agents through the Agent Client Protocol (ACP). It allows Emacs users to interact with multiple AI agents directly within their text editor. The software is designed for developers and power users who want to integrate AI assistance into their Emacs workflow without being locked into a single vendor's platform.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

Another month, another agent-shell update. If you missed the last one, have a look at the 0.63 update . While this post showcases the latest highlights, the full list of changes is far chunkier than what we'll cover. agent-shell is a native Emacs mode to interact with AI agents powered by ACP ( Agent Client Protocol ). Since inception in September last year (yikes nearly a year), agent-shell has featured a shell-like experience, powered by comint mode . There's also viewport mode (via agent-shell-prefer-viewport-interaction ), if you prefer a more focused experience, and now we have chat mode . Chat mode fuses comint mode with a more traditional chat-like labelling experience. We're living…from xenodium.com

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